Soil Fertility and Acidification Affected by Altitude and Age of Tea Plantation

Effects of altitude and ages tea plantation on the fertility and acidification of the soil were investigated. Soil samples from 22 representative plantations, as well as reference, in the major tea producing areas of southern and northern province Fujian were collected and analyzed. Both the altitude, where a plantation was located, and the ages tea plantation, which had taken place at a specific plantation significantly affected the fertility of the soil. The contents of organic matters, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soil significantly increased with elevation or age. Especially, on average, the available phosphorus was 5.2 times, and potassium 1.5 times, higher than that of reference soils. The average soil pH was 4.36±0.34, which was 8.8% lower than that of reference soils. Which increased with the altitude of location, but the rate of decline lessened at high elevation. With tea plantation ages increasing the soil acidification significantly worsened. The exchangeable aluminum in soil significantly increased with lowered pH or the increased planting ages that further hastened the acidification and fertility depletion of the soil.